The patron saint of copying someone into an email.

St Francis of a CC

Fab! Nice to see them getting reviewed still and not by yobbos!

Hi all,

This might be a candidate for the Coupe projects area in due course but I am hoping to get a bit of forum input in advance.

My Coupe (and forum participation / membership) has been a victim of "life" in recent years and has been sadly neglected since 2020. What started as an initial SORN period because I was doing one trip a week to supermarket and didn't need 3 cars to do that turned into something longer term when I carried on working from home.

Now, however, is the time to return to the fold!

Whilst it isn't exactly a barn find as I have owned the car since 2003, I last started the car in 2021 and at that point to clutch cable had gone. On the plus side it started and seemed to idle at stable revs / pressure, etc. However 6 years since it was last driven is a long time so I'm expecting to need (or want) to change quite a lot of parts. And definitely won't be turning the key until belts have been done and everything has had a very thorough check. This all assumes in passes a basic structural integrity assessment once up on a ramp to check it hasn't rusted away of course.

Up to now I have kept the car relatively standard - aside from common sense swaps such as silicone hoses, HID lights and a stainless steel exhaust. Obviously there aren't too many of us left around now, so what is the general view of modifications versus OEM originality? My sense is probably that it is getting increasingly hard to get like for like replacement parts and therefore a certain level of substitution has to be accepted even if you're trying to keep things strictly "stock"? Things I'm particularly thinking about are:
- From reading posts when E10 first came out the suggestion seems to be the fuel lines should be changed but otherwise it should be OK. Is that still the view a few years down the line?
- Related to this point, I'd long planned to get a flea-map done - is he still around? Doesn't seem to have been on the forum in a while. If he is, is the general view that just getting it mapped to run on Super unleaded makes sense as it takes away the E10 issue, and you should hopefully then get the benefit of the extra octane?
- I seem to remember reading (around the time I SORN'd the car) that the MOT rules were changing and HID's would no longer be allowed - did that actually happen, or is it still a case of knowing what to say to the MOT centre about auto-adjusters, etc?
- the side bolster of the drivers seat has seem better days (obviously). Is there anywhere that repairs these, or are you looking at swapping in from a different car?
- Has any solution to the headlight lenses fogging up under UV rays been found, or is it still the hard work way to get back to clear plastic?
- Over the years I'd tried various brake / pad combos but always struggled with squealing when using anything other than the OEM pairing - is there anything around now that doesn't suffer from this?

And then the one that may be the big one - anything that people who've done a lot of work on the car in one go which they done whilst it was being taken apart? Or equally, anything beyond the basic replacement of worn / aged parts that people would suggest I should have on the list?

I'm hoping to get this back to be a really solid example that I can run happily for years so I'm not looking to cut any corners (quite the opposite). And then there is the not small issue of finding someone passionate about the cars to take it on - I'm hoping FCCS will be able to help but we'll see as it looks like he's had a few health issues.

Thanks in advance for any input - have missed being on here regularly and will hopefully be able to give a bit more time to it going forward!
Simon

We switched over to EV last year for both cars. Avoided a tethered wall box because it’s limits your applications and depends if your energy provider in bed with each other with wall boxes.

In the end we had fitted a 4G Wi-Fi Project EV Apex 4S box. 7.3kw. Untethered. So we just use our individual CCS cables that the car brands issue FOC.

In the real world, we are £260 better off a month better off by switching to EV. Typically it’s costs less than £4.00 a week per EV in charging costs for circa 200 miles, so a no brainer.


For me I took the plunge with a BYD Atto 3 and Mrs a pocket rocket of the Fiat 500e with the bigger battery.

Red Coupe on the B4265 heading out of St Athan, I was going the other way in my grey coupe. Did wave but only spotted you at the last moment!

Contact Joe Knight @ FCSS- He's countrycruising on the forum, as I know you get strengthening plates for the 5 speeds

Also look in the tuning section of the forum and search for a guy called Stichl, he has a 2.4 with 4 x 4 coupe


Cheers Jamie

Hi all,
There’s a car show at Wollaton Park this coming Sunday 7th June.

Wollaton Park, NG8 2AE Nottingham, less than 15 minutes from J25 off the M1

I’ll be there in my coupe from around 9am. It’s a decent event with a wide variety of cars to see.

Cheers Jamie

Thanks for the photos

Im going to send you some red paint for next year.

Paul

That's a shame, I'm unavailable that day.

Last time I checked- he did take them on- although his website is now BMW M cars mainly.

But Rog used to have a soft spot for a Coupe and I think a few local members close to him have mentioned in the past he has done work for them.

Its worth a phone call if you live close by.

Regards

MM

Jamie's Bionic coupé

There seem to be some confusion about car shows taking place at this venue

The All Italian meets are continuing as before , the next meeting being on 6th June 2026.

.Here is the confirmation.

Hi Andrew,
I'm planning to go but didn't know until now it's going to over two days.
Andrew