Anybody who's owned a red car for any length of time will know this one 23.png

I looked for a picture, but they're all from when I bought the wee car, over 6 years ago now, and the rot hadn't started... anyway, the paint is fading and peeling badly on the wing mirrors and the door handles, and I'm wondering about having a go myself. So two questions:

1. Is it easy to remove the coloured covers from the mirrors without breaking them? I know some things like this become very brittle with age...

2. Do the door handles and surrounds come out, or are they an intrinsic part of the doors?

 

"For the mileage you are doing an oil change every other year is more than enough but do more regular checks on the oil, coolant and brake fluid levels, topping up where necessary. An annual check of the brake pads is always worthwhile.

A cam belt change should be done every 5 years. It can be done by an averagely competent weekend mechanic but is a bit of a pain due to the tightness of the crankshaft pulley bolt and the difficulty in accessing it in a rear engined car."Sorry to those who replied - a catalogue of (non-car) disasters over the last couple of weeks meant I didn't see these replies till now. Yes I got the belt, pump and tensioner done last year, about 2500 miles ago (I mis-typed 300 miles a year originally - corrected to 3000 now, but I don't expect that will make any practical difference).

Unfortunately it's very difficult for me to do much in the way of maintenance these days - I have a sloping driveway which makes jacking the car up impractical.

OK in view of the low mileage, I think I'll skip any sort of service till next year. I do do the braking-to-clean-the-discs bit when she's been sitting for a week or two, but the discs and pads look good

Thanks all 

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Notanumber wrote:

Ive always done my own servicing and have only ever paid to have a service done on fairly recent cars where it might significantly affect it's resale value.
A pair of axle stands,a trolley jack, a socket set and popular sized spanners are pretty much all you need for servicing a TF unless you need to dive further.
For the mileage you are doing an oil change every other year is more than enough but do more regular checks on the oil, coolant and brake fluid levels, topping up where necessary. An annual check of the brake pads is always worthwhile.

A cam belt change should be done every 5 years. It can be done by an averagely competent weekend mechanic but is a bit of a pain due to the tightness of the crankshaft pulley bolt and the difficulty in accessing it in a rear engined car.

I've owned the little machine for 6 years now, lots of fun - but occasional. Partly because of my height, but also because that's what I enjoy, I only drive it when I can have the roof down - and if you're familiar with N Ireland, you'll know it rains a lot.

Because of this, I only clock up 300 miles a year or less. So my question - times have become hard, and do I really need to pay somebody to service it annually, or could I just get the oil changed? At least every other year?

What do you do?

 

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