Switch replacement on order
for trunk release £36 notes = tidy... My dad and I had been
farting around for ages trying to troubleshoot it and change the solenoid
etc... It turned out to be the switch.
OK so they took the
Air bagged wheel off, the four bolts behind which they said were
a common cause were actually tight, and they think it's nothing to
do with the bushings as the 1st (crap) M.O.T centre had said - the
wheel is height adjustable and they think its just the spring mounted
catch giving a little, when excessive force is applied.
They feel it poses
no danger and offered to run it down to the M.O.T centre they use
for me as the car was now out of M.O.T, anyway 2nd attempt, they failed
it too but just compare the failure points!?!?
Full beam on side not working
= intermittent, Must
be a loose connection, will sort!
Emissions Co2 7%
Hole near door sill,
...................................Small
welding job needed...
Letting
American Autos deal with this at time of writing...
It
was the 1st time I'd ever had to put a car through MOT as my main
car is always a leased one and brand new cars do not need to be MOTed
until they are 3yrs old... I was shocked at how the 2nd place found
different things wrong that
A:
had not been failures at the 1st place
and
B:
that the 1st place didn't fault emission tests or the hole, Ahhh the
nightmare of M.O.T's being anything but an exact science???!!! Next
year I shall know which test centre to take it too ;o)
____________________________________________________
They
dealt with it got it retested and it passed (phew) I also let them
do some more welding that didn't strictly need doing as it was not
a failure point but was an additional comments from the inspections..
A stitch in time and all that malarkey ;o) I wanted some other bits
n bobs done too while it was there - cost about £450 in total.
SUMMER
2002
Fitted
Cat 1 alarm system, one of the Clifford G4 range www.clifford.co.uk
I had
been planning to do this for ages cos a serious muscle car should
have a serious anti-theft system.
You
can fit remote start to this alarm which will mean I can start my
car up without being in it, via a button on my key fob - so it's
a Knight Rider mod too... Imagine seeing my car in a car park after
it's done and all those memories of the tv show filling your head
when all of a sudden it starts up with no driver inside ;o)
Now this
is a very sophisticated alarm system and should only be fitted by
a pro - it is also very expensive, best part of a grand and with intelistart
as well it takes it over the £1k as this was not my only nor
my most important commitment...
I lapped
it up when a friend of mine that I had told about wanting this system
told me he knew someone called "Ollie" who worked for Directed
Electronics (Owners off Clifford) he put me in touch with the guy
and he gave me a better price than I could get from a Clifford dealer
and said he was a fitter and he could do it one weekend...
Well
naturally I thought great - you can't get better than to have a guy
who works for Clifford come and do it, so I paid him some money up
front as a deposit so he could go buy one of the systems he could
from Directed at staff rate...
To cut
a long story short he spent one Saturday fitting it and said he had
to go about 5pm but he'd be back in the morning to finish off - he
seemed very nice guy as well as trust worthy at the time and like
a fool I paid him for his days work, needless to say it all went a
bit "Pete Tong" and the sniveling piece of goat's scrote
just gave me excuses after excuses after that - very emotive ones
like "my fiance has had a miss carriage" What could I say
to that "I promise I'll sort it out next weekend mate" Now
I believed him - who the hell would make something like that up? but
the excuses just kept coming and it was all getting a bit too far
fetched...
So not
wanting to be ripped off I drove my car (With a half finished alarm
in and a good section of my dash out) down to Directed where he worked
and guess what - he'd done a disappearing act - he had not been turning
up for work, as it was a private job which they do not condone I couldn't
get much help from them, I was out of pocket, with a half plumbed
in alarm, and my mate could not get a hold of him after that either...
Needless to say if he ever does rear his thieving head again - he'll
wish he hadn't...
Thankfully
Car Radio Alarms in Sutton 020 8661 1122
agreed to take the half done job on and finish it to Cat 1 Standard
- without that Cat 1 certificate well it doesn't bare thinking about,
should save me some wedge when I re-insure my car, god knows it's
expensive and hard enough to do that at my age (21) I should have
just taken it to Sutton in the 1st place and gotten it in the neck
paying whatever it would have cost from my nearest and dearest. It
cost me more in the long run... That's what comes from trying to save
money for other things like a home - it clouded my judgment - ha it's
easy to pick things apart with hind site... Ollie - YOUR A TOTAL T****R
Autumn
2002
I
have found some one in called Reiko in Phoenix Arizona who is selling
his M.C.K Knight Rider replica front bumper for $450 now this is a
good deal considering he can also get me a non-skirted rear bumper
for a further $50 - I'll buy them from him depending on how much shipping
something that big is going to cost and on picture proof of the bumpers
existing and being ready to ship...
Bumpers
update #1
I've
seen pictures and am in constant contact with Reiko on this - all
seems well - he's trying to sort out shipping quotes.
Bumpers
update #2
He
managed to get a reasonable quote from "UPS freight" freight
due to the size of the box - bumpers for such a car are big, I would
have thought sea freight would have been cheaper but no, it works
out fairly dear either way unfortunately... The deal is about to go
go through because he's satisfied me that he's genuine and has sent
me details of the ups quotes etc..
Bumpers
update #3
The
money has cleared but there is a big problem - as he was filling out
the final paperwork for UPS before they were to pick up the shipment
he came across a box on the form that wanted company tax code - obviously
he called them and asked if he must leave that box blank or have they
sent him the wrong paperwork as this shipment is private... The operative
from UPS freight told him that they do not do "private shipments"
through the freight division since "Sept 11th happened"
Why wasn't
he told this at the beginning?? Stupid company, wasting both of our
times and now we have to start over - looking for another shipping
company who can do it for the same sort of money, cos I'm not transferring
any more money ;o(
Bumpers
update #4
Finally
I have found a company that can do it out there, "Allied Pickfords"
I've passed Reiko the info and mailed a contact there myself, hopefully
we can get this where it should be now (In my possession)
My insurance
has expired now so the car is off the road because of that I'm not
renewing it at this time because desperately need to get on with saving
towards a flat to buy, as all other avenues have been fruitless so
far.
Further
update
Things
are dragging on with the bumpers :O( There is a reason - Reiko's other
half - it's not for me to comment on but he isn't having a good time
of it - he has promised me he will sort it out but although I know
he's not making it up and is very annoyed / depressed over his current
situation I can foresee this dragging out even longer and that's not
a good thing seeing as I've paid my money and have nothing to show
for it - I hope he keeps his word and that this doesn't mess this
up - I also feel for him but that was my down fall with the "Ollie
saga" in the end. :O(
I will
not be happy with Reiko if he doesn't send these bumpers soon.
Year
end
Still
not got the bumpers, Reiko has taken a job as a long distance truck
driver apparently after the split up of him from his wife - obviously
I can't get a hold of him to talk to as much online because of this
and have had only one email in the last 2 weeks explaining his situation
to me - again he says he will get my bumpers to me and that he has
no intention of ripping me off, it'll be done when he is next in Phoenix
to arrange it. I'm fed up with this situation, I loathe to spend any
more of my savings on the car until I get my bumpers. They had better
materialise, because I will persue this one!
