eiriksmil's cars

[eiriksmil]

So I dailied the GTti a bit in September

Put the cars into storage early October.. Been working 60-80 hr weeks since.. Finally got some time on my hands now.

After many salty winters the Funcargo has some surface rust underneath, as it would have. But it's surprisingly good all things considered. Pulled the beam, so I think a good winter project is taking care of that. Sure it will come back eventually, but it's not a big problem as the car is not longer winter driven.

Pulled the beam for access, I will pull the tank as well I guess..

Here's some of it, granted it looks even less delicate with a flash light on!

Will pull the tank and start on an area to get a feel for how long time the work will take, then make decisions from there.

 

[eiriksmil]

Dropped the tank. There are two ways of making a tank, the wrong way and the right way. The right way includes a drain plug. The wrong one does not. Getting soaked in gas is awesome.

Stuff that used to be on my car which is not now

Pretty nice underneath there, still about time I did it

 

[SVX]

The wrong way gets you ripped

 

[eiriksmil]

Got a bit more time into this.. I've got started sandblasting which is cool.

Rear cross member and frame rails, sand blasting, zinc primer. Will strip the old seam sealer and replace it with new.

More to follow.. Current status, I think I'll drop the exhaust as well for better access, then I can change the front exhaust gasket while I'm at it.

The trick is to know when to stop removing stuff, so the project does not grow bigger than it already is..

 

[eiriksmil]

Winter projects are fun

Got a little more work done, exhaust down, more sand blasting

Wheel bearings/rear hubs are effectively rust welded to the beam, as are the outer steel parts of the rear beam front bushings. #fun

 

[eiriksmil]

So I didn't really update this.. If you follow me on Instagram you may have seen it..

More sandblasting

More rust

Cleaning it up

Got myself a new tool.. It's pretty cool.. Air gun for seam sealer

Approaching the end of March here.. A coat of zinc spray and primer it looks pretty sweet

Also pretty sweet, the rear beam, new fuel tank and rear brakes came back from the powder coaters. Yes I did win and got the hubs separated at last.. Using bolts from the front of the drums/hubs, through them and pressing at the backing plate did the trick.

And then at last.. Paint, finally also underneath the car

Getting stuff back on, one hectic day of wrenching

Rear beam with stuff back on

 

[eiriksmil]

Everything back on, bled the brakes a couple of times. First time I'm changing brake fluid on the Funcargo so about time really..

And finished the thing.. Got the JDM front mask painted during winter, picked up a set of Azev As to enjoy summer.. I've put about a thousand miles on the car now and it's just great. Although it needs an alignment it drives like it used to, or better with the new rear beam bushings. Between me and you it of course needs more things; rust behind the rear arch cut out and welded, fix an exhaust leak, a little bodywork (there are some scratches and dents I am really not enjoying), alternator bearing making noise etc. But I couldn't be happier.

Speaking of projects.. While the Funcargo was still in pieces I had booked in the G10 for an inspection. 7 years since I bought it and did a state inspection last time.. How time flies! Rear brakes still need a little work, exhaust leak and the windscreen has a crack too big for my inspection guy. But this time I didn't get a fail on the ball joints, meaning my Zerk/grease fitting fix and greased up ball joints did the trick

I did have the car on temp plates for a few days and getting parts for the Funcargo in the G10 was fun

Now the fuel pump seems to not work. Dismantling a diaphragm fuel pump will be a first for me.. Owning old cars is fun We closed on a house just a few weeks ago so finally I will have a garage to keep one extra car at home!

 

[homeforsummer]

Great work on the Funcargo, it's fantastic to see someone putting so much effort to keep it on the road, when most other people would just scrap it and move on.

 

[eiriksmil]

Great work on the Funcargo, it's fantastic to see someone putting so much effort to keep it on the road, when most other people would just scrap it and move on.

Thanks bud. When the car was hit about 1 1/2 year ago I was more or less ready to move on and scrap it, but I kinda saw it as a challenge getting it back on the road.

It's just an old econo l box but it's my old econo box. Doing all this work to it maybe doesn't seem like sensible at all, but I look at it also like practice and experience. One day I may own more 'enthusiast' cars but having practiced on low value cars will enable me to either do the work myself or know how much work things are.

 

[eiriksmil]

So what's good..

Stole the OZs off the Charade and threw them on the Funcargo

Needs bigger tires. Actually it needs TH-Lines with bigger tires..

Put the Technomagnesio Sports on the Charade and enjoyed having bigger tires

We have our own ornament outside the garage

Speaking of red Charades, red orphan #2 is sold

Red orphan #1 was sold last year but the fuel pump died and it spent another winter in our garage. Now it drives

So when you have sold a few cars, what do you do? You park one of the other cars in the garage because you can

Then you throw a trailer on and drive across the country and tow home another small Daihatsu because you have room. This one is really small

It is glorious. 81 Hijet, RHD, 550cc kei truck. Japanese import, we are the first registered owners in Norway.

Such JDM!

With Ronal Turbos on the GTti it looks a lot like the blue car I had a decade ago (after all it is the same hood and wheels)..

 

[eiriksmil]

So let's see

Was to drive the Mk2 out of the garage and it promptly started spraying gas everywhere

So you do what you got to do

Not the fuel pump but apparently the diaphragm inside the fuel accumulator fails

Funcargo became moving van

We lived in the city for a couple of weeks

And then finally, house with driveway

A driveway with a kei truck!

And a garage!

I put the BWAs from the blue Charade on the GTti. I think the tires are from 2002. Wheelspin everywhere.. Good times.

I bought an electric van for work because why not. Sort of eiriksmil related

I can properly wash cars at home??

Mirage ran out of state inspection so I hid it at work

Did brakes and now it's legal again

Actually drove the Mk2 out of the garage and now I can't engage P. I have driven this car a total of 100 yards the past five years and it has broken twice. I love Volkswagens. Looks cool though.

Put all the cars in storage

Recap:
- After the Funcargo rebuild I drove more than I wrenched this year
- Put about 6k miles on the Funcargo
- Put about 100 yards on the Mk2 and broke it twice
- Put about 300 miles on the GTti and it still hasn't blown up
- Charade G10 is still broken
- Hijet is still super cool
- Got a house with a garage so I can do car stuff (eventually) at home also, plus only 20 minutes to my workshop so I am a happy camper
- Winter sucks but let's see what winter projects we can have this year

 

[eiriksmil]

Nothing too eventful has happened.

Bought a Benz for snow

Benz no more and it stopped snowing. We've had an unusually warm winter after Christmas so I have started getting ready for spring..

Changed CV joints and started getting the Golf Mk2 ready for initial inspection/plates. Swapping the TA coils for H&Rs

Need to raise it and swap wheels and just do some minor stuff

Driving a combination of this, ENV van and Mirage over the winter. I need to replace the Mirage because it bores me to death, Polestar 2 and new Yaris GR are both on the shortlist.

New wheels for the Funcargo, I look forward to spring. Still salty roads from time to time so no rush, took it for a little spin yesterday though

 

[eiriksmil]

Although 2020 is not over, this season is a wrap.

Before raising the Golf MK2. At this point we thought this would be just another normal year

Polished up the Funcargo headlight before inspection, raised it, changed a wheel bearing (my fault for not torquing to spec last time around and just a couple of ugga duggas)

Had the car approved, threw on the Cromodoras

Took the GTti home for a night.. I believe I drove it once this year, for various reasons

Dragged the Beetle out of storage, bought a battery, took the Hijet out of storage

Put the Hijet to work

Picked up a G100 Charade. PO painted it purple, indidentally I was offered to buy this car some years ago but I was offered to buy it now at a lower price so yey. It's a G112 which means it's a 4wd which means it does gravel skids

Raised the Mk2 and did an alignment

Got some stock steelies for my Funcargo, found the hubcaps, yellow PIAA bulbs, let's see how long these last

 

[eiriksmil]

When you have one low Charade which is not state inspected and therefore not road legal, and a purple turd, what do you do

You bring out your fender roller, throw in the coilovers and find your Borbet Atiwes you hope fit and will not rub too much

The result

14" steelies lasted for a couple of weeks before boring me to death

Let me quote myself from last year

Needs bigger tires. Actually it needs TH-Lines with bigger tires..

Took the Golf to a place that's usually boring because it may mean you did something bad, but in this case fun

Because they give you plates. Car arrived late 2011, was supposed to wait to 2016 because of tax regulations and lax 30 year old rules, it's 2020?? Well better late than never

Attempted to state inspect the Beetle and failed. Can't stop me from taking a small trip because just look at it

The TH Lines were rubbing on the Funcargo and I was hauling things for house work so why not put them on the Golf

Bought a mint Yaris T-Sport

Atleast it was mint on one side.. Donor car with disc brakes, proper seats, air condition and 1.5 swap if I want

In addition to losing its wheels, the Funcargo coilover pillow ball top mount collapsed, so threw stock suspension on it. Put a trailer hitch on the Funcargo, it may as well do some work then

And my roof bars

While using this to pick up take away food instead

 

[eiriksmil]

Daihatsus

Purple car is low

Took the Funcargo on a 600 mile trip for work

Bigger tires, ended the season a complete opposite of the start (low, clean)

And that's a wrap

Recap
- Put like 9k miles on the Funcargo, it has 210k now
- Golf got plates and didn't break down
- I probably drove it more this year than the previous years combined
- It only pissed fuel once this year
- Dusted off the Beetle
- I bought two cars

Winter projects
- Painting the Funcargo bumpers properly this time
- Maybe tackle the driver side rear corner
- Parting the T-Sport
- AC swap?
- Redo the IC piping for the GTti, state inspection in spring
- Sell the purple car back to the PO who is now my buddy I guess
- Get the Charade G10 going??

It's been a weird year, but I can't complain car wise

 

[homeforsummer]

Good going! The purple Charade looks great on those wheels.

I'm finding it mentally exhausting owning two cars (and that's getting worse soon...) so fair play looking after that many!

 

[eiriksmil]

Good going! The purple Charade looks great on those wheels.

I'm finding it mentally exhausting owning two cars (and that's getting worse soon...) so fair play looking after that many!

I have found that I atleast need to accept that no cars are perfect and especially not all at once.. Will never happen. However, it is reassuring to me that my cars are getting more complete and in better condition over time, which is ironic as they just keep getting older Keeping things in working order, being in front with maintenance and sorting out problems quickly makes it easier; it's much easier to address a small issue than to tackle a project.

Having said that, sometimes I can just let a car stay for a while. Like the G10, that suddenly died on me. Keep it more or less complete and let it sit rather than go into that, while juggling other projects as well. Speaking of the G10, I removed the fuel pump and inspected it, diaphragm looks OK, it's spitting out fuel. Okay, let's try with another carb..

Result: Success! Car now starts and idles.

New to me BC coils for the Funcargo, practicing welding these days so I can do some rust repair on it

'Modded' the ENV a little by getting tires in one size bigger, improved ride and handling a lot as the stock tires are just too small IMO. Before - after

Kinda foreshadowed this in February.

Driving a combination of this, ENV van and Mirage over the winter. I need to replace the Mirage because it bores me to death, Polestar 2 and new Yaris GR are both on the shortlist.

Ordered a new daily in September, fully electric AWD 400 bhp Polestar 2. Incidentically I test drove the Yaris GR in December, to see if it was good enough to cancel my Polestar order. It was great, one of the most interesting cars in a long time (proper driver's car, manual everything, really old school fun), but for a daily basis the Polestar won. Collected it today. Love it so far!

 

[homeforsummer]

Holy crap that's a bit of a step up from the Mirage Will be great to hear your thoughts over the months as you're running it. Was the E-NV200 your first experience of EVs?

 

[eiriksmil]

Holy crap that's a bit of a step up from the Mirage Will be great to hear your thoughts over the months as you're running it. Was the E-NV200 your first experience of EVs?

For sure! It's sad, I thought I would like the Mirage and from an ideological standpoint I really do love it. If the whole world drove Mirages, the world would probably be a better place. It doesn't take up space, it's frugal and you avoid being in debt while driving a relatively new car with a warranty. It's a shame they ****ed up the suspension and handling, as you may know the car more or less sucks the joy out of driving. I've put about 10k on it in three years, always finding excuses to drive work vans or the GF's Audi.

EVs are pretty popular around here. Driven quite a few EVs, but the ENV was my first hands on experience with "owning" and driving an EV on a daily basis. I would probably have considered going electric when I bought the Mirage if we could have installed a charger in the condo we lived in at that time, sadly the electrical system into the complex was not up to the task.

First impressions: The headlights are really on another level, it's good to drive, fast enough and it seems like the car is also into AWD skids on snow and ice..