another newbie!

[elliott]

hi to everyone,been meaning to join  since i bought my carlton back in january!
what i have is a lovely E plate 1.8gl auto estate,


So anyway,my name is Tim and i hail from the medway towns down in Kent and its good
to be back in a big vauxhall again! In the past ive had 2 senators,one written off and one part
exed for a gsi 24v which again,part exed for an omega v6.

but back to the latest one,its been looked after well,with only 54000 miles on the clock!
all ive done is to give her a service,dry out the passenger footwell(just a leak,not the matrix thankfully)
and fix the passenger window motor and just enjoy cruising.even mot time was painless
with only 1 advisory because the sills are starting to go a bit bubbly!!

8 months of trouble free motoring :)dont get that with my 04 passat!!

Tim

[Murph]

Welcome aboard mate!
Thats a lovely looking example you have there - and a near relative of my first Carlton, E565 CBH.

Not surprising that you're not too far away in that case.

[chrismec]

Hey Tim and welcome to the wonderfull world of T/C
That's a nice looking estate you have and so few miles too

[Murph]

Did the car come from Essex by chance?

[stemo]

I remember seeing that for sale! Welcome aboard.

[elliott]

Thanks for the nice comments and warm welcome.the car was indeed bought from an advert
here on TC.i think it was tetleysmooth that works with the seller,and yes,it was in essex,
canvey island.
seller was spot on,very nice coffee on a cold sunday morn in january!!
according to the stack of old mot`s i got with it,the car has spent most of its life in an around north london but used sparingly judgeing by the mileage!(and lack of dents!)
To do list so far(or what i`d like to do,time and money permitting)is

lower!-it needs lowering,not too much but gonna start with 40mm lowering spring and see what its like
coolant and thermostat change-running slightly warm
diff oil change-to see if it will silence the whine
headlight washer motor-only drivers side working
headlight upgrade-better bulbs or maybe hid`s

Small mod inside using the cassette storage space is my digital radio player.im a real big radio fan
and the windscreen aerial just doesnt pick anything up anymore!


fits kinda good and more to centre now so no ugly cables to see anymore, and being held on by a magnet,also easily removeable

also sporting some gsi alloys now scored from ebay with good tyres for £50


so thats me,off to the tech section to read the how to`s on diffs and coolant and thermostat changes !!

thanks
Tim

[Land-Barge]

Hi elliot and welcome, glad someone saved that estate, the GSi wheels work well on it

[Johnny A]

welcome! Liking the early estate, swear an early estate is rarer than carltons such as the Lotus or diamond... you just don't see them!

[Murph]

The best way to improve the headlights would be to get some from a higher spec carlton that have the extra pencil beam units for main beam.
HID's will illegal on your car very soon so it's probably not worth going that route.

Headlight washer motor is pretty easy to sort out and we have spares here in Dartford, does mean taking the front bumper off though.

[carlton_mad]

got the high spec headlights too!!

[Murph]

True...

[elliott]

murph,
thanks for the heads up on the hid`s,looks like the later spec headlights are the way to go
and if you have some and wouldnt mind parting with them for some hard cash,then ill pm
when i get paid!!
johnnya
the early spec works for me,with the lack of clip on bits as it goes on building sites everyday so the less bits to snag on the better!!
(i managed to pull the bumper off my omega on a bit of unseen steel bar sticking out the ground!)         

  i will admit that from some angles it does look quite bare an i dont think ive ever seen an estate without roof bars,but i think it will look so much better with a subtle bit of lowering,not as slammed as yours for the reasons above but ill get the 40mm lowering springs an take it from there

[man of kent]

Welcome mate. I'm just up the road in Walderslade. Mines a club same colour estate as yours. No doubt will see you around.

Did think about buying your one myself, but what would I do with 2.

[carlton_mad]

it isnt the same colour!! photos are misleading! it is actually nearer gunmetal than Rembrandt

[elliott]

Snap! im in walderslade too and you`ve been spotted  by my eldest who thought id driven past her without giving her a lift!!
and do all the carltons of this colour say silver in the logbook?? mine does!