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What's the frame?

https://8bar-bikes.com/neukln-steel-urban-and-crit/

Nice build @stromo , is that an 8bar disc fork?

Sort of update time. Some of you may have witnessed me having a wobble about keeping the car in the main car thread. Long story short my back has been fucked and i really wanted to drive more than i ever normally would. Good news is my back is easing off and my ULEZ bill since it started up is under £40 (think i either dodged cameras or there's a few trips yet to come through). For now at least i'm committed to keeping the car.

Not so great news is the car not being used regularly in this poor weather hasn't been good for it. After over a month of not driving i found an inch of water sat on the rear footwell matt from a blocked sunroof drain and once i got moving discovered a binding handbrake caliper. The latter was a fairly easy fix (couple hard yanks on the handbrake at 30 miles an hour) but clearing the water wasn't a fun job. On top of a damp interior and clunky brakes i'd also forgotten to put any air in the tyres and a bit of corrosion on the drivers front alloy left me with less than 20psi in there. Dealing with stuff like this each time i want to use the car isn't going to be fun so after a bit of research i put together a hibernation pack that i should have invested in a while back. I've gone for a cap over a full cover for less faff and i also don't like the attention full covers seem to draw. I've also gone for a couple reusable dehumidifiers for the interior (now that it's dry) and best of all got a fancy auto pump half price. Although it's slow af and noisy it's gonna be pretty handy if i want to do any long haul trips after the cars been sat for a while.

So that should be the end of the update as the car will be mostly hidden away until i can get it to my dad for mechanical work however floodgate has opened a new can of worms. Fortunately no damage was done but pulling out the rear seat, and carpets, and trim (...) highlighted several things.

1. Years of half arsed cleaning has let grime build up, let stuff fade and in the worst cases resulted in peeling, cracking etc.
   
2. Pulling this car apart (and putting it back together) is actually very easy. Now that i have a half decent selection of tools i can get most bits off with little stress (ignoring the relentless speeding on my road).
   
3. Not much if anything is past saving. After some elbow grease i was pretty chuffed to see how well stuff started to clean up.
   
4. Now that i'm having a break from bike projects it's given me back some space in my life and in the garage to do little mini projects. Not a great time of year to be starting on this but once whatever i choose to clean up is off and in the garage it's so far been quite enjoyable doing little jobs in there.
   
   

I'm looking forward to trying the glass and plastic polishing kits, first job will be to restore the sunroof deflector as it'll need to come off to unblock the drains properly!

Yesss!!! Guy that organised the "mission" sounds like a bit of a legend.

Maybe one for the fashion thread but any suggestions for some dandy but robust cargo/walking trousers with a bit of water resistance? Google is pushing middle aged i was never in the armed services but i respect what they do fashion vibes. Loose fitting, not so many pockets and navy would be nice.

Passion reignited, 2m kitchen cabinets in a 3door hatch

I tried and gave up before getting an expensive one with pit zips. I now have a very waterproof, breathable enough jacket that propels water downwards onto my crotch. Walking home yesterday morning with a cold wet dick makes me think it wasn't money well spent.

Porsche is awful and I thought for a moment that was a link to a 1 series and was about to put you on ignore but I actually do like the i3.

I have a tip run planned for tomorrow that makes me grateful I have neither of those.

What do you mean by some ability to personalize and character?

Good question, for character i like stuff that has a function over form aesthetic that ends up making it look interesting. The Saab was designed primarily by an industrial designer and you can sort of see that. I know nothing about new cars and don't love Audi but always thought the A2 was a good example of this. Also Yeti and maybe the Panda 4x4. Seems harder to find in a more typical saloon package though. My dad is pushing the Octavia mk1 but struggling to find anything interesting about it.

In terms of personalisation i guess subtle factory options or well regarded after market stuff designed for long travel that won't fuck up the insurance or make it look too Max power. Winter steels, a roof rack and maybe a factory dog guard would be nice.

Thanks, will do some digging as i'm struggling to find the factory Nox figures. Mine was born under Euro 1 so i'm not optimistic but some interesting reading below suggesting Saab were ahead of the game and yes i believe turbo's are generally better. There's also a parallel discussion about having the car tested in lieu of readily available documentation but it appears the process is not making waves due to cost and political pressure.

https://www.saabscene.com/threads/1999-saab-9-3-ulez-question.251616/page-2#nested_reply_top_post

Thanks yes i have heard of people doing this but as you say tricky from a now non existent company. Would definitely like to hear more about it though!

Sanity check needed as i think i'm developing ULEZ anxiety. Current car is a 93 Saab 900 Turbo, good and bad aspects listed below. I've found someone to restore the bodywork and will need to put down a deposit shortly for work that could total £5k. Plan was to keep it in London with minimal use but a bad back and home DIY work has left me wanting a car that i can use more locally without giving it too much thought (within reason). Since ULEZ has kicked in i've only used it once for an out of London trip but using it so infrequently might not be the best for keeping it ticking over (just ordered a cover as i discovered the interior had got pretty damp during the rain storms).

My question is what alternatives might be out there that would offer at least some of what i have already? Current budget in mind probably £7k max.

Brief
ULEZ compliant with decent omissions (petrol only?)
Good mpg
Good loading and probably 5 door
Air con
Low maintenance/running costs
Character with some ability to personalise (Yeti?)

Current car

Good
Low fuel costs (due to usage, mpg ok not great)
Amazing loading capacity for the size
Almost zero running costs thanks to mechanic dad and well stocked for spares/consumables
Has passed emissions tests without issue for the 10 years i've owned it
A lot of fun on the coast where we like to holiday
Appreciating classic. The car owes me very little and even if i poured money in to getting the bodywork done i'd have a high chance of getting my money back if i decided/needed to sell
It's a cool car with sentimental attachment, plan was to be more involved in nerdy car stuff like classic rally's and show's in the future.

Bad
Non ULEZ compliant. Original forecast was using the car twice a month so £300 a year but i'd like more opportunity to use it so could easily double that
Bodywork looks tired and needs work
No air-con/climate not great for summer trips and dog (apparently is available as retro mod for approx £1.5k)
Bit tiring on motorways
May be subject to tighter emission restrictions in the future

Bloke look broken at the end of it. Was all fairly sad

Yeah sad to read how it panned out, i switched it off at the first adds as i wasn't really feeling the project and the guy looked a little scared from the outset.

We're ragging on people for taking there larger dogs out early to avoid the masses now? Cool.

At 6 i was still struggling to process the boy from space, not sure what i would of got out of watching Alien/s.

Very different but equally excellent IMHO (Alien vs Aliens, not boy from space).

But that only took a few seconds to find

85 unfortunately https://www.autotrader.co.uk/car-details/202308090602602

Paudi 924 if it's not too long?

Pretty sure I have one you can grab

These are amazing. Think I've seen a fair few of those but being honest the Rapid fire/Year of the Dragon double bill is probably what I'd choose these days.

I humbly submit

Good effort, been a while since i've heard this!

Sounds like an average Pet shop boys track to me.

Hill Street Blues should be up there but it getting rinsed by radio6 has probably put some people off.

Heat 2 in the pipeline

Is there a simple answer to who out of a newspaper/news website or book/magazine publisher is subject to more scrutiny over what they publish? Colleague has told me he doesn't read msm anymore and prefers to source his information through books (fair?) and podcasts (um...).

Critics hated it which put me off but i've heard a few people say they enjoyed it now. Really liked DEJ in under the banner of heaven so perhaps i'll give it a go.

Trial single speed not a bad fit, gears coming soon.