There are times...

[Nik da Greek]

...when I f*****g hate this car!
 
Looks like my usual luck has remained consistent over the past month. So far I\'ve been heinously ripped off on eBay, spent ages faffing about installing a water temp gauge that worked for a whole day before shorting out and going phut, bought a boost gauge that had been mullered by the postie so the light didn\'t work and then it filled up with condensation in the glass, and spent the best part of a grand getting various fluid leaks and dodgy bits put right.
 
I was particularly chuffed, then, to finally get a chance to drive her in the sun after seven days straight of ten hour shifts, five in the morning starts (which was nice!) to find my beautiful wheels that I had refurbished at astronomical cost and have only been on the car two months have gone from looking like this;
 
[ATTACH]38035[/ATTACH]
 
To looking like this:
 
[ATTACH]38036[/ATTACH]
 
[ATTACH]38037[/ATTACH]
 
[ATTACH]38038[/ATTACH]
 
There\'s all manner of road grime, water and corrosion between the lacquer and the alloy rims. In some places you can move the bubbles of water around with your finger under the lacquer, it\'s lifting away in an entire sheet in places. Looks like the people that refurbished them didn\'t hold the bolt heads steady enough when they were tightened, and they were allowed to twist slightly, thus torquing the lacquer and lifting it from the rim.
 
Needless to say, I no longer have alternative wheels to put on the car, so even if (when) they agree to re-finish them, I can\'t take the wheels off, they\'ll have to have the car for as long as it takes.
 
Oh, well, nothing I can do about it whilst I wait to hear back from them, I thought, I\'ll take her for a good blast cos it\'s the MOT Friday; blow out all the cobwebs and soot. Especially pleased to see it\'ll only boost to .5 bar (on my daylight only, condensated boost gauge!) and the second turbo doesn\'t seem to do much. And there\'s a horrible escaping air noise when you try to force it. And it goes "PHWOOOOOoooooooshhh,shhh,shh in a decidedly worrying fashion when you lift off. Yes, it\'s ate a solenoid for the turbo switch over gubbins! Fantastic. Now a single, but not in a good way.
 
Good. Look forward to seeing how catastrophically the evil bitch fails the MOT tomorrow, then
 
This f******g car would test the patience of Job! My mate mentioned at work today that he\'s flogging his Mustang GT, and I am sooooo f******g tempted. At the moment, even a f******g Micra seems tempting, though!
 
Anyone got a match for a petrol tank?

[JP825]

You get what you paid for, buying parts off ebay........

They are cheap for a reason//

[interloper393]

this is a common feeling owning a rx7 bud.. trust me and id say everones been there at some point hand in there, theres worth the hassle.

[Nik da Greek]

You get what you paid for, buying parts off ebay........
 
They are cheap for a reason//

Yeah, thanks for that, that was very helpful. As it happens, I got ripped off selling stuff rather than buying, but there you go. The boost gauge was admittedly an ebay purchase, but you can\'t really legislate for post monkeys crushing delicate parcels, that could have happened wherever it\'d come from. The water temp gauge came direct from Japan from an apparently legit trader. Both were GReddy, so hardly cheap sh!te, you would hope.
 
Strange philosophy, there, though; people deserve to be ripped off if they try to save themselves some money by buying premium parts at a cheaper price?
 
I paid over 800 quid including labour for the wheels to be refurbished. Does that entitle me to feel aggreived, or is that still too cheap for ya?
 
Thanks for the encouragement, \'loper, though I\'m gutted you sold that Apexi bumper I\'ve been coveting so long just before I get paid! Probably just as well, looks like I\'ll be needing all my cash for engine work (again!)

[interloper393]

no woorys bud, but there is light at the end of the tunnle, o n just think how quick yer car a get you through it
iv had mine 6 months now, only drove it once when we moved house lol.. how sads that!

[Nik da Greek]

no woorys bud, but there is light at the end of the tunnle, o n just think how quick yer car a get you through it
iv had mine 6 months now, only drove it once when we moved house lol.. how sads that!

Yeah, but at least yours is a piece of art so it\'s nice to look at! whereas mine still looks like a bag of sh!t tied up in the middle and dragged out of a swamp! Only time the bloody thing\'s run right was when it put me sideways through some Armco! Ahh, sod it, I\'m gonna get the bike out and set a new Sussex land speed record. Should make me feel better!
 
Maybe the car\'ll start to behave a bit when she sees the Kwaka getting all the love for a change!

[m4drx]

borrow a set of wheels off som1 on here and try to be patient as best you can. although that does sound cowboyesque.

your boost probs may just be a spark plug or check valve so dont fret too much. despite what you have said i have without doubt been through worse in mine but on the other side it is green.

best of luck mate.

[Nik da Greek]

Cheers, but definitely seems to be a solenoid thats burnt out. Managed to get Jason from Super 7 to offer an expert diagnosis on it! I\'m clueless when it comes to diagnosing problems, so though it best to ask someone who knows what they\'re doing. I though I\'d done it some serious damage, the noises it was making, but it turned out it was from the primary turbo wasting all its boost into the secondary when it tried to switch over but couldn\'t.
 
As for the wheels, well you wouldn\'t believe it if I told you where they were done. I can\'t really say, cos they haven\'t had a fair chance to make them good yet, so it wouldn\'t be fair to bad-mouth them, but it\'s fair to say they\'re one of the most famous tuners in the country, though not of RX\'s. Hopefully they\'ll stand by the work and make good the repair, and then I\'ll be happy to sing their praises, after all, the wheels looked fantastic, for a whlle. I now know why most re-finishers won\'t touch split rims with a bargepole, though

[m4drx]

ok well there are a number of things you can check or you can get (i have some) solenoids if you need any. if it still works i very much doubt you\'ve done damage. its been running less boost so probably lessened stress on the motor if anything.

get your £££ from the postman too!

[JP825]

Well, I am sorry if that came aross the wrong way... just saying that you take the risk when you to buy cheaper parts from ebay, there are a lot of dishonest scammers about taking advantage.

I have learned my lessons from before.. and I am sure so will you ....

Good luck with the car anyway.... I am sure it will be all worth it in the end.

[BenLewisMav]

Damn, sorry to hear of your bad luck... I\'d be tempted to go single turbo (in the good way ) if I was you. Screw all those flaky old solenoids. Everytime something goes wrong its just a chance to improve it, its going to be off the road and you\'re going to be paying money anyway

[S3TH]

I\'ve got a pair of super advans you can borrow (yes a pair, as opposed to 4) & a spare wheel, + your spare wheel = 4 wheels :Giggle
Welcome to em dude before they go up egay...

[SiH]

Gutting
Unfortunately that almost alwyas seems to be the case with lacquering polished lips - they either peel and lift, or the lacquer yellows - the problem is there\'s nothing for the lacquer to stick to if the surface is well polished, and if it\'s rough enough for the lacquer to key to, then the finish isn\'t very bright

For that reason i tend to leave wheels bare and just get used to polishing them ever week.

Not much help I know though, sorry dude

[interloper393]

im guessing by the pick you`ve got a zx10 , i had a 2004 Honda Fireblade for almost 2 years, best bike iv ever owned.... but... lol it was 2 perfect and a little boring..

[Aceman]

I\'ve 4 original wheels with tyres you can borrow..

Will need them back though so can\'t sell \'em to ya!!

Depends where you are located mind...