k9master

Completely agreeing with hardhat, you are trying to compare 2 cars that are: Intended for totally deferent consumer segments. Fulfils totally different sets of needs. Dishing out totally different ownership experiences. Such 2 contenders cannot be compared on the grounds that you have suggested and the result will not be useful to any potential buyers. Also, if this thread serves as a serious decision making input for you, based on the things that you are evaluating, I’m inclined to think that you are better suited for an Allion. You seem to thinks that some cars require more maintenance than others. An equally equipped Allion will require just as more maintenance as a Beemer to stay in an optimum condition. Just because Jap motors are less sensitive to overshooting service intervals doesn’t mean that you should. You seeing a lot of “bells and whistles” in the Allion also seem to indicate your interest towards the car. Your own online research and tons that you have read definitely would have revealed the following list of options for the E90 http://www.e90post.com/forums/attachment.php?s=d26db8b440d1f02cfff2c200d560c1d5&attachmentid=353172&d=1267246093. (Before you argue that the list is for North America, I have posted it here as an example. If you look hard enough you definitely can find an E90 which is quipped to impress in the local market) For a chap believing in living life to the fullest you seem to be bit concerned about things such as resale value, fuel efficiency & leaning towards either a small engine or a diesel. Personally I think you can live a much ‘fuller’ life with a 6pot E34 or a Toyota Mark II X100 for a whole lot less worry about money.All n all the decision is personal and you have the power. But as an observer the above is what I see. So please don’t be insulted or offended if I say that Allion is the best for you. Just take it or leave it. Edit: Removed duplicated text

its not funny. Its horrifying...

Photo Highlights are out for Season 19: http://www.topgear.com/uk/photos/top-gear-tv-is-back-2013-01-03 Cheers, K9M

Hey Pewix, Based on your Air Filter thread I assume you are still talking about your swift. Hope you can give a bit more clarity in the next post but based on what you have said i think this is whats going on. 1. There are oil seals that prevent engine oil from entering / splashing on to the spark plugs of the engine. 2. One of these oil seals have worn off or got damaged in this case causing oil to be splashed on to the bottom area of one of the spark plugs causing the plug not to fire properly. 3. Since one of the cylinders in your engine is not firing up in a consistent manner the engine is vibrating (miss-firing) If the above diagnosis is correct I think the best resolution is to replace the subjected oil seal. Based on how your engine is designed you should either be able to 1. replace the oil seals directly 2. Or if the seals are integrated to your rocker cover (valve cover) the whole rocker cover should be replaced. In this 2nd scenario, your mechanic may advice that you can take the rocker cover to a workshop and get the oil seals replaced which will be less costly. IMO this is not very advisable so i suggest you either replace this with a recon rocker cover. Experts, please correct if i have stated anything incorrect. Please note that the diagnosis is just an assumption based on the input given. Cheers, K9M

Long Drive, I PMed you the details.

Hi MD, Thanks. I have instructed the guy to put the car together without any polishing. I'll be getting it next week, finally Planning to do the polish late December or next year. Cheers, K9M

Hi Davy, Thanks for the response. I'll advice him to put the car back together then. Will do the polish in a month.

Hi All, Yesterday, the final clear coat was applied and the car looks really good. Guys involved in the project has done a fantastic job. Workshop is run by a duo, one specializing in tinkering and the other in paining. The tinkerer is the owner and he was the one who was bit reluctant to use 'Sikkens' clear coat. But the painter fully agreed and was happy to use the brand. The job was finished using all 'Sikkens' material from base, clear, hardener to thinner and I've never seen the body panels looking better than this. Thanks MD, Harshan for your guidance. Now hopefully the final question of the Series: Cut & Polish From what I know and whats been discussed in the other threads it's recommended to wait at least a month before the first cut & polish. The painter also agrees to this. However he says, since everything is in the dismantled state now, the cut & polish can be done better since the doors, fenders etc are not attached and since there are no obstructions such as rubber beadings etc. So his proposition is to wait for about 2 weeks and do a complete cut & polish before everything is reattached together. He also claims that he has applied a 3 layers of clear coat and as a result an early cut & polish will not affect the finish. He says that a secondary polish can be done again after 1 - 2 months. If i insist, he can assemble everything together and hand the car to me to run for a month and come back for a polish. But according to him there will be a risk of panel edges adjacent to glasses, beadings, panel areas covered by plastics etc. not being polished properly. This could be an attempt to avoid future hassle of having to remove parts again. What are your thoughts guys? Thanks in advance, K9M

VVTi, He HAS mentioned the highlight of his BMW experience now hasn't he?

Very interesting & untraditional set of options... Picking the wild card without a hint of hesitation, just listening to that engine itself will be a good enough reward

Hi Harshan, MD, Thanks for the responses. Yes I do have to make a firm stand on 'Sikkens' clear coat in this case. If he makes more fuss then have to put a stop to it once the tinkering is done. At the moment he's putting a lot of attention to the tinker work and its shaping up real nice. Before I bought the car it had been rear ended by something and the damage the boot floor has not been repaired properly. I wanted the guy to remove all old filler and shape it to be as original as possible. With this there are adjustments to be made to the boot lid and a few panels. This work is almost done now. Once this is complete I'm planning to have a discussion with him on the paint. Then if it doesn't work out i would have no other option than to take it elsewhere.

If the contestant is against their new DC-HSPA+ service, i guess there will be no chance...

Hi Sylvi, Thanks for the reply. Yes I fully agree with you on using a booth. In fact, I did check around before I started on this. Concerns I had: 1. Confidence - Almost all of the good but non premium places I checked had one or more bad stories about bubbles popping, peeling etc. And it was them vs. the guy who has done a few good jobs for me which didn't show any of the bad signs for over 4 years. 2. Cost - Few premium / reputed places I checked quoted around 120k, 130k just for painting. With the tinkering work it would have easily come to a 180k mark, the cash I don''t have for this job. I'm not saying i want to do a cheap job but with the current I can get all of them done for about 100k which is a good option IMO to settle for. If you have any thoughts about the products I've mentioned please let me know. Cheers, K9M Edited; Corrected Spelling

Hi Harshan, Thanks for the advise. I will check with the painter today on, what the procedure he's planning to follow and what primer he's planning to use as well. On the clear coat, my worry is that he's insisting on using the 'Causeway' brand. I'm wondering if I should make a major fuss that and force him to use Sikkens clear coat or take the whole paint job elsewhere. The thing is, his tinkering work is really good and I intend to use his skill in the future (specially since i'm in to 80s / 90s cars), so don't wanna ruin the rapport with him. Everyone, If you have any experience with 'Causeway' clear coat products please share here as it will be really useful for me. Thanks, K9M

Hi All, My car (Nissan Presea R11) at the moment is undergoing some tinkering awaiting a complete paint job. The tinker has demonstrated great skill in the subject before and also has done good paint jobs for me. Earlier, since the paint jobs were small, I didn’t go in to detail. As long as the colour matched and the finish was good I was happy. Now that the job at hand is big, I have the following questions: Chosen base coat brand is ‘Sikkens’, no questions there. 1. Primer : What is the correct procedure here for repainting a. Remove paint to bare metal, apply primer, base coat and so on… (Is this done generally in repainting?) b. Remove paint up to primer then re-apply basecoat? c. Anything else? 2. Clear coat : Your experience with ‘Causeway High-Gloss 2k Clear’ a. My intention is to use ‘Sikkens’ Auto Clear Classic b. But the painter insists on ‘Causeway High-Gloss 2k Clear’ + Hardener His argument is this this is just as good and doesn’t generate nasty fumes (according to him) like ‘Sikkens’ and other brands do, in the spray process. He says he has stopped using other clear coat brands after having a lot of complaints from the residents around the workshop. Please help me out experts. Thanks in advance, K9M Edit: Removed the unrecognized bullet point characters

Been going there for over a year now, for every 10k clocked. Could recommend him to anyone with an EFI engine. However i was told that he's even better for carbs. Cheers, K9M

WOW... really, Thought that's an awesomely done conversion given the rarity of RHD batmobiles. Our Little Island is great....

Momentum of the car keeps the engine from stalling. When the clutch engages, the fuel supply is resumed.

Now seeing the two side by side, its cliar that i have made a bit of a hash of it This car and what you posted has a few significant differences starting from interior, rear quarter panels and front

Hi Peri, Thanks, I did a search earlier before posting but had the 'Topics view' instead of 'Post view'. Didnt even look at "Whats the fastest you have gone" thread as it may be referring to a Clio V6 overseas... But the 'Post View' revealed a very interesting result. http://forum.autolanka.com/index.php?/topic/2317-whats-the-fastest-you-have-gone/page__st__660__p__203931#entry203931 Sorry for choosing the wrong thread.

Not Sure MD. Wasn't able to have a look under the hatch to see if it actually was full of engine or not. Had all the mid twin tail pipes, Clio V6 badge when i closed up from behind. Now come to think of it, he was driving surprisingly slow on a clear road...

If it's the same they have done an awesome restoration... Paint needed a good polish though, not as shiny as MDs pic. Porabably since it had been under the cover for so long... Edit: Snapped a pic on the way back...

Yes MD, looked exactly like this. . It was without the wheel cups though. 1 SRI XXXX

Has anyone seen a blue Clio v6 in UK plates running about in Kandy? Saw this 2 times last April (Aurudu days) in Kandy - Digana Road Sorry the pic is not at all clear... had a rubbish phone

Hi Guys, Saw an awesome Pontiac Star Chief in the Jaic Hilton Car Park. I was captivated by the sight... (I'm no expert on classics, had to look up the image of the car to find out what it's called ) This had been under a cover all these years and never got to see it till this morning. Didn't take any pics without the permission of the owner but looked very similar to below... MD, interesting stories behind this?