Pleased to have a working 200SX again

**helenedith** · 13-09-2021, 20:27

I got an MoT advisory last August (that's 2020) about the state of my front suspension and with all the lockdowns, plus disagreement with my other half about which way to go to fix the problem (he wanted coilovers, I wanted to stay original) she sat on the driveway for months and went nowhere. (Well, apart from the evening I took her to Urgent Care because the gearshift linkage on the P-reg Golf had disintegrated.) Anyway, with Boris making noises about allowing us to get out and about, it was time to do something about my car. We had 2nd hand front springs/shocks that came from eBay (plus some rear coilovers that I didn't need or want) and the 2nd hand parts were better than what was in the car apart from the gaiters between the springs and shocks, so those got salvaged from mine and one good set of spare parts got assembled and fitted.

I also discovered when I drove her prior to taking her for the suspension work that I could smell brakes. This was a problem that my garage was supposed to have sorted out last year. It turned out to be a seized calliper. The kit comes with pairs and I only needed the nearside one, so there may be a single front brake calliper on eBay one day soon.

While working on the brakes, it was found that the front disks didn't match and they have been swapped out.

There were a few other jobs as well and between waiting for spare parts and people having to isolate due to Covid, the car was away for over 2 months. She spent much of that time in their yard rather than being actively worked on, but the itemised invoice was quite considerable. I might be 66, but I suspect that I won't be retiring any time soon so long as my job remains open.

Anyway, now I have her back, I will enjoy driving her and will consider whether to start exhibiting at shows. I've kept her in original condition, which many haven't been. (e.g. The one I saw at the Edenbridge Motor Show at the weekend, which was so low it looked like a hovercraft. I didn't manage to coincide with the owner, so I don't know whether it rises when you start her up. It looks like it needs to or I'm not sure how he managed to get it across the bumpy field where the Motor Show was held.)

I will probably take the P-reg Golf to the supermarket though: easier to park, doors don't take up as much room; and not quite such a disaster if a runaway trolley gets too close.

**pointz** · 13-09-2021, 22:57

Good to see an oem car being kept that way, very rare nowadays!
Hopefully see it at a show at some point! Jdm combe is next month

**helenedith** · 14-09-2021, 11:10

Originally Posted by pointz

Good to see an oem car being kept that way, very rare nowadays!

Someone a few weeks ago made a remark that included the words "hen's teeth"!

I fought long and hard with my other half over the recent suspension repairs, but ultimately she is my car so I won.

My boss's boss is a firm advocate of staying OEM. His Porsche had been slightly lowered and came to grief on a speed bump. He has another car in his garage which he is considering restoring to OEM. He was strongly in favour of me not going down the coilovers route.

Originally Posted by pointz

Hopefully see it at a show at some point! Jdm combe is next month

Not sure I can get as far as Wiltshire! I'm South East based and we have cats to feed, although our remaining ones all eat dry food, so should be good for a night without us.

The other problem with October is that I'm also an amateur musician and I've committed myself to two music events during October, although it turns out that neither actually clashes with the 9th.

However if I can entice you a bit closer to the South East, maybe you will get to see mine at some point. I may exhibit at Edenbridge next year and I hope that Wrotham will be on as I'd like to exhibit there. Edenbridge isn't too far from the Godstone and Sevenoaks exits from the M25. Wrotham is a short trip down the M20 from the Swanley M25 exit. I think that there should be some other shows local to me, such as one at Crystal Palace and the Bromley Motoring Pageant, but with Covid, a lot just haven't happened in the past 18 months.

Helen

**markcro** · 14-09-2021, 13:11

Wow, a standard SX is as rare as hens teeth! Nice! To be honest I have never been in an SX with coilovers that I liked. Sure they looked low and cool, but awful ride quality. Even the "comfy" ones. So that ruled out coilovers from my plans and so I went with Nismo S-Tunes shocks and springs. Still officially "Nissan". They are a good compromise between comfort and firm. But even compared to the original shocks and springs, the ride comfort is pretty compromised.

**helenedith** · 14-09-2021, 14:43

Glad to hear that there is approval for my decision to stay standard. After over 20 years of being standard, it seemed wrong to modify her at this late date.

I really must look into where the local shows are and get her entered - there probably won't be many more this year, but there should be time to look around for some shows for next year.

I'm probably primarily interested in London, Kent, Surrey, East/West Sussex and Essex, but I will be in Bury St Edmunds for a weekend in October, so if there's anyone in that area, I could probably have a quick drink of something non-alcoholic on Sunday afternoon/evening before heading back home.

**helenedith** · 05-11-2021, 12:35

I had an appointment in Biggin Hill this morning, but not even a 200SX was able to get there in time considering how late I set out.

It was a lovely day and when I parked, I saw lots of vapour trails in the otherwise blue sky, so I snapped a couple of pictures of my car using my phone.

I'm afraid that you can see that the rear bumper has been repainted. There was a regrettable incident while she was away for mechanical repairs and was just being driven back from the tyre shop when an inattentive woman in a 4x4 ran into the back of her and caused some damage.

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**Dastardly** · 05-11-2021, 19:25

Lovely 14, what are you going to do about the damage? It's a shame these rare incidents happen. I can't see the damage but I am using my phone to look at the pics

**helenedith** · 05-11-2021, 21:51

The company who had my car when the damage occurred sorted everything out with the 4x4 driver and took my car to a repairer of their choice (not the 4x4 driver's choice) and the damage was repaired. It meant repainting the rear bumper and the colour doesn't match 100%, which you might notice if you view the pictures on a better monitor.

It's been suggested that a cut and polish would probably bring the finish of the rest of the car up to match the newly painted rear bumper. I've never had a cut and polish, so the paint should be able to take one. I'd need to address a supermarket trolley mark and a key mark while I was about it and after spending so much on mechanical repairs this year, I probably don't want to get involved in a bodywork project right now. I sometimes think that provided that I keep her in reasonable condition that a bodywork project might be something for her next owner to tackle.

I'm 66 years old (so maybe this is my mid-life crisis car

as I was about 45 when I bought her) and I've been thinking that I will keep her for another 4 years and then review the situation. If I get keen on the show circuit in the meantime, I could keep her for longer - and also get involved in a bodywork project myself.

Getting her into immaculate condition could make me afraid to drive her, which would be a pity. When I picked her up after her big mechanical overhaul, I was just about too scared to drive her after spending all of that money, but apart from driving her in a massive downpour several weeks ago to the accompaniment of the most appalling piece of back-seat driving by my partner, which nearly broke my confidence on the spot, I've been acclimating myself and took her to Suffolk and back recently. I mostly pootled along at 60mph among the trucks and really only put my boot in when accelerating up a slip road to rejoin the motorway after pulling into some services. I did 70mph more on the way home again, but any time the speedo crept up past that, the satnav dinged at me, so I had a pretty law-abiding trip.

I've also driven both the 200SX and the Golf quite a bit lately and I'm reaching the point where I can get into either and be immediately comfortable with the controls. The big difference between them is hill starts because the clutch in the two cars bites at quite a different spot. Of course the other big difference is that no turbo kicks in if you stick your boot into the Golf.

However, the Golf is a better shopping vehicle both due to having more load space and fitting into narrower parking spots; and it's the Golf who shines when we have a dump visit (2 hippo bags or equivalent amount of refuse) or need to go to B&Q or HomeBase. A 200SX just isn't designed for that sort of use, even if you put the back seat down and utilise the gap through from the boot to the back seat.

**markcro** · 09-11-2021, 21:30

And I thought that I was doing well owning mine for 16 years as my daily! ;-) Absolute fair play to you, respect! :-) I know what you mean about getting her too mint and being afraid to drive her, that would then defeat the pleasure of owning her. I keep mine in as good as condition as I can. I wait for a few bits of paint being needed before I drop her in. (I do use my wifes Civic for the dogs and shopping carpark trips! ;-)

Earlier this year I had the rear bumper, roof, door handles and door mirrors repainted. My car is red and even with 22 years of sun and elements on red paint, they managed to match the colour perfectly, even the roof blend. So if it is not too late, I would return and get them to respray that bumper again. That is not acceptable or them to say that is new paint and the rest is old. A decent spray place should match the colour shade to the paint on the body now, not just to the book colour code.

I said it before, it is so cool to see a standard SX. She is a beauty!

Mine is mildly tweeked, but my plan from the day that I bought her was to keep her as standard looking as possible. I needed bigger wheels to fit over larger brakes, so I went with the nearest to standard style wheels as I could find. She even still has the original head unit and 6 CD changer. :-)

**LammyPie** · 13-11-2021, 10:17