Askari

Like my wife says of the children, I love them all the time but don't always like them! My car seems to have decided to cripple me through hip pain, although in truth, it's probably got as much to do with me being a little over weight as it does 22 year old bucket seats. But if the love really has gone - and I can imagine it would with a dent that size - then best get shot of it and find something else. p.s. This is not an indication of anything that my wife or I might be planning to do with our kids.

I read somewhere that the Police pull over older cars more frequently - particularly older sports cars and coupes - because they assume that they are wrecks being driven by chavs with a dozen, unsafe mods without any reference to their insurance company (probably because they don't have insurance). I live in hope of being pulled over so that I can show the Police Officer exactly how much work I have had done on my car to improve its performance and looks and keep it in the best possible condition I can, including excellent tires, lights that all work - and a number of other very tasteful modifications. Sadly it never seems to happen.

Bloomin eck, Cheltenham has obviously changed a bit since I was last there!

Arrived today: 60 sq ft of Dynamat Superlite for the boot, wheel arches and doors.

I was chatting to a bloke at a WWII event in Kidderminster today he was planning to buy a 1943 Willys Jeep that was for sale. I asked him how much it would cost and he said £15k minimum for a good example - with guaranteed money back plus interest and inflation when you sell. As I walked off he said "it's a lot of money, you could buy a new Fiesta for that" - I nearly said "or spend it on an old Celica" but I held my tongue because my wife was listening.

Push to open ash tray from Biggy. Shortly to be married up with the non-smokers tray I got from Briano a couple of months ago.

Are you an undertaker then? Cool car for a funeral director!

Ball park... £700 to buy it. £2000 on the rev 3 replacement and engine ancillaries £2000 on bodywork, rust treatment and resprays £1000 on exhaust Probably another £2000 on bits and pieces Stupid money, hey ho

That's really bad. I feel sorry for you - and angry about the fool and coward who did that to your car.

DVLA do a monthly newsletter for MOT testers, which crosses my work desk occasionally. One story I saw was about a Vauxhall Zafira which came with a full length under tray, which the MOT inspector could not remove and therefore passed the inspection of the underside of the vehicle by default. However vigorous use of the corrosion assessment tool on a patch of rust on the sill revealed that there was also significant corrosion of the body frame under the vehicle. The point being made was that had there not been a patch of rust on the sill and had the tester not applied a certain amount of judgement (and force) a vehicle that was not fit for use would still be on the road.

I found something similar on mine a few weeks ago. The worst patches required the attention of the body shop (rust right through the sill in one place). The rest were mainly paint chips and rust spots around the door edges. I was pleasantly surprised to find that rubbing these down, treating with kurust and then over painting with a couple of layers of touch-up paint gave a surprisingly good result - certainly good enough for an area that's not that visible.

I was laughing but now I've checked my car, she's covered as well. I'm sure it want there this morning, maybe it was in the rain we had earlier this evening. Amazing that's it's been blown here from the Sahara.

Well, I like the colour.

New set of domed letter number plates from Demon Plates, but too dark outside for a picture.

Looks like some idiot paid Briano what he wanted for the gen 5 non ash tray thing he's been trying to sell for months!

That's them. I agree, not perfect but not bad for DIY jobs - not right for this job though.

There's a place near me that will mix a rattle can of paint to the colour of your car - inclusive of however many years of fade it has suffered. Very handy for minor repairs.

Do you have any contact with a Toyota dealer? My local dealer has a dent repair man and a smart repair man for chips on call - mainly for the secondhand side of the business - but they have done various bits of work for me on the Celica and other cars, and if the dealer is using them, you've got a reasonable chance they'll do a good job.

Maybe, but that looks like a quad bike in the background, not many of them around in 1996/7. May be wrong though.

I've always been pleased with the Tyota dealership in my neck of the woods - Westlands Toyota in Stourbridge. Last time I was there the mechanics lined up to admire my car!

Nasty, what caused it?

Just to finish the thread, I had both switches out last night - fortunately there was enough slack in the wire just to pull the white connector block out without having to disassemble all the trim. Both responded to treatment with WD40 - but one still felt a bit rough so I replaced it with one of two spares from TCB which cost £5 each (so I've got another spare in reserve for the future). Thanks for the tutorial.

sounds good, thanks, I'll pop over on Saturday morning. See you then & thanks.

I reckon I must have a combination of issues then - on the passenger side, the door light and the courtesy light either work or they don't - and when I push the switch it feels 'rough' - diagnosis = switch needs cleaning and lubricating; on the driver's side the door light works most of the time but the ignition ring light only works some of the time, therefore initial diagnosis = switch plus poor wiring connection in ignition light. Plan = clean the switches and see what difference that makes before doing anything else. Thanks for the help.

I will do when I get into it - which is going to be the weekend.