Yes the good news is, I bought my next car here at Driveanotherday HQ. The bad news is, I still have the Subaru here glaring daggers at the far newer 2012 Mazda 6. Still, potential car animosity aside I’m slowly getting to grips with all the bells and whistles of this Mazda 6 Touring Edition (and there’s quite a few of them) and after roughly a week there’s some things I love and a couple of bits I reckon definitely have room for improvement..
Almigo
Torana’s taking over the world
Well okay, maybe not the entire world. But there certainly were enough Holden Torana’s parked out the back of the Ettamogah pub on Sunday just gone to bring a tear to a Tori enthusiasts eye. And a grin to people like me who just love wandering around a car show..
Time for a pre purchase car inspection!
While it’s doubtful that a an hour long pre purchase car inspection would have picked up the head gasket issues on my 2005 Subaru, undoubtedly the mechanic would have noted the dried coolant spills. And possibly pointed out the age of the pipework on the radiator, maybe even zoomed in on the cracks I didn’t properly look for and note that ‘these will need to be replaced.’ Plus their fault code reader would have had the settings for Subaru, where as mine doesn’t seem to know a Subi if you threw it at them (it’s more Subi software being a little more out of the ballpark than most generic readers it seems.)
Would I still have bought it knowing the faults? Maybe. Possibly. Especially if I used what was found in the pre purchase inspection to lower the price. But then I’d also run the results past someone with more knowledge in these things that me. Regardless knowing what I know now, I’m not buying another car without one..
1983 Other Ford – mobile cubby house!
I get that the prices of materials have reached epic heights this year and you have to improvise. Likewise I love the fact that Facebook could only classify this project as ‘Other Ford.’
But now that this 1983 Other Ford project has been unearthed online and revealed to be for sale…I wondering who would buy it and why? which sawmill is going to snap it up first as a promo car.
1995 Chrysler LeBaron – meet the Humdinger!
Remember that episode of Top Gear where there lads created their own car, the Hammerhead Eagle-1 Thrust? For a moment I thought this Chrysler LeBaron was one of theirs too. But no, it’s another of those incredibly unique builds you find on Facebook classifieds looking for a new owner!
But are you ready to take this award winner home and make it your own? Let’s find out!
2005 Buick Park Avenue – hold onto your kneecaps!
There’s road rules, there’s road regulations. And then there’s the wheels on this Buick Park Avenue in Austin Texas that seem to have their own postcode. Seriously, how and why are these an actual thing?
Subaru PCV Valve – you want it to rattle
In today’s ‘Al learns a little more about his car before someone buys it’ we’re taking a look at the PCV valve. Which on this thing is about a five minute job all up and most of that will be hunting down the right socket!
Let’s get lifted! 1995 Mazda Mx5
Well this is a rarity isn’t it? This Facebook found 95 Mx5 not only comes with a lot of pictures (not taken with a potato) but also has a decent write up AND on top of things, looks like an absolute hoot to drive. What could possibly go wrong here? Welcome to Safari style!
1964 Citroen Ds – What in the actual?
Don’t ask me, I just write here. And I don’t think other Citroen Ds owners would have the foggiest idea either what’s happening. But anywhoos, meet ‘Athena.’ Falling to bits on the inside and…uh…well there’s certainly quite the show on the outside isn’t there!
1991 Maserati Coupe – Gran Turismo is leaking into reality again..
While I wait for my 2005 Subaru Impreza to sell, enjoy this – a 1991 Maserati Coupe in a lovely shade of warm cream mixed with just a hint of lime.
Mmm, doesn’t that just sound delicious!
Oh, did we mention it’s part Chrysler? Meet the worst of both worlds!
DNA contains traces of a Chevrolet Suburban..
You know you’ve been playing a little too much Fallout 4 when you see something like this 2000 Chevrolet Suburban and think ‘Well that would actually sit nicely in the radioactive wastelands..’
And unlike the Buick Roadmaster I posted up earlier, most of the car seems to be here. And what isn’t has been replaced with something else anyway!
93 Buick Roadmaster – rough holiday road
Okay, it’s not the same model as the classic road wagon of National Lampoons Vacation, but if you squint (a lot) and do that from a far distance while inhebriated, you might think it’s close. Of course there’s a lot of work involved in getting this Buick Roadmaster good to go for the next ride to Wally’s World..
Let there be lights – Honda Civic edition
It truly is a sorry state of affairs when you see a picture and have to play a game of real or photoshop? But in the case of this Honda Civic, it’s very real. And part Chevy GMT900..
All of that air – 85 Pontiac Fiero
There are air intakes and then there are air intakes. And in the case of this 1985 Pontiac Fiero, that air intake grill is probably more suited for stopping condors from getting sucked in let alone sparrows..
A quick update…on the latest update
A wise mechanic once said ‘The more you modify something, the more things can go wrong.’ And after installing all sorts of upgrades here at Drive Another Day, well…things went a bit pear shaped soon enough…
The knock sensor that suddenly went deaf
Sigh, they just don’t build em like they used to do they? Case in point the knock sensor I installed roughly a year ago that suddenly seems like it’s suffering from hearing loss..
Luckily these things are pretty easy to test.
So…how about an awesome custom trike?
So just when I thought the crazy automotive shenanigans on Facebook classifieds had gone a little quiet, along pops up this thing. A 1975 VW powered Honda Goldwing Custom Trike!
Changing your Impreza spark plugs
Yep, the Slowbaru is still hanging in there, only recently I’ve noticed that it’s felt a little sluggish at times. Add that to the occasional (it hangs around for less than a sip of coffee) flash of the check engine light and a sudden increased thirst for the petrol stuff and it looks like it’s time to swap out the spark plugs.
Luckily it’s a fairly non eventful job, once you remove everything else in the way first..
The cruising convoy of the BSCCC (Bendigo Sports and Classic Car Club)
For me ‘Do you want to go on a car cruise?’ is a statement right up there with ‘Steak okay for dinner?’ and ‘I’ve filled the fridge with your favourite beer, enjoy!’ It’s not something I hear often but I rarely say no when it does. And so before I knew it I was in the in laws HR Holden, ready to be part of a great cruise with the BSCCC (Bendigo Sports and Classic Car Club.)
Blood, sweat and oil filters – Mitsubishi Lancer oil change
This was supposed to be a quick and simple post on how easy it is to give a 2009 Mitsubishi CJ Lancer an oil and filter change. Well it was supposed to be. However what should have been an hour and a bit job turned into a six and a half hour wrestling match and only ended when we broke out some fire…