[nicholas_yiu]

I have been lurking on these forums since Dec 2013 and finally went through with the purchase. It is NORRO75's old one.

I had an Octavia VRS before which was low mileage, standard and in real good condition all round. Put it up for sale after seeing NORRO75's car and someone contacted me the next day and picked it up the week after. He was real happy with it. He kept saying he's buying it before he even finished with the test drive. I was happy as well because he didn't bargain much and I got absolute top wack for it. That means I have some spare money to bring the ATR up to top condition.

That was it nicely cleaned up before it was sold:






The VRS was a weekend/occasional commute car but was way too sensible for its purpose. It was nice because of the instant torque delivery and the huge boot, but the handling was pretty poor (my 1.6 Civic Tourer was better!) and it wasn't quick enough. It was either to modify the suspension + remap or change car. I decided to change in the end.

The ATR will be the weekend car as well but will probably get more use than the VRS because my wife has finally passed her driving test. She will be driving the Civic around when she needs to. Some quick pictures of the ATR before I clean it:





I had a proper drive taking it home along some back roads and found the following:
1. It has a real split personality. Off Vtec, it is quite slow but instantly transformed to a different car in VTEC. I am not sure about that yet as it just feels so slow off VTEC. I hope I grow into liking it as I aspire to own a performance Honda.
2. Handling is very good. I was playing around with keeping it in VTEC and didn't realise how quick I was taking some corners until I looked at the speedo, it handled so well it just seems too easy. Calmed down quite a bit after that as it could be dangerous. I think it needs to go on a track to realise it's full handling potential, certainly not on the open road!
3. Throttle response is instant, heal toeing is a pleasure compared to the electronic throttles that I had before
4. Droning noise when I lift off at 80mph. It's so bad I almost feel deaf afterwards. Probably something to do with the decat. Will have to put the cat back on as I can't cope with that.
5. Slight hesitation between 4-5kRPM WOT. Doesn't do it unless I weld my foot to the floor though. Probably start a thread in Engine if a full service doesn't sort it out.

Jobs already done:

1. Poked around the car for rot, taken the arch liners out to check the bulkhead/footwell area, only found surface rust except for under the front door seal (which I know about before I bought it). Attacked it with a file so far, going to put some kurust and hammerite on it later:



2. Starter motor taken out for refurb as the starter motor will turn over very slowly then stop when warm (also known before I bought it). The refurb place had a look already and said 1 of the brushes has completely gone. They will replace all the brushes and bearings. £75+VAT so not too bad I think, also bought a spare from Rory just in case as the car is now stuck on the drive.



3. NORRO75 sold the hub caps, so put some new "rage" alloy hub caps on for now which looks quite smart in my opinion:

Before:


After:


4. The headlight lenses are really cloudy so attacked the left headlight with a refurb kit, no where near finish but I ran out of battery on my drill, it is good enough for now, but will probably attack it again when I do the other side.

Before:



After:



The following is planned:

1. Engine Oil/Filter/Transmission Oil/Brake Fluid/Clutch Fluid/Coolant/Spark plug change + check/reset tappet clearance. Any point doing the HT leads/change the PAS fluid as well?
2. Change rear ARB bushes as there's a bit of play in them
3. Put the Cat back on to fix the droning noise
4. Investigate the hesitation between 4-5kRPM at WOT mentioned above.
5. Change 2 tyres to RE002 as 2 of them only have about 2-3mm left. It has Kumho Ecsta all round at the moment, the other 2 are near brand new but still tempted to change them to RE002 as well. They seem OK in the dry but not tried them in the wet yet.
6. Aircon regas
7. Underseal to stop the surface rust from developing. Anyone know a good place near Reading?
8. Fix oil leak on the transmission side somewhere near the head, I suspect it's the camshaft end seal but not 100% sure, will change that first and change the spool valve seal if it doesn't work
9. Respray the Headcover as the paint has flaked off really badly
10. Alloy refurb, the black paint is starting to flake off and I am not sure if I like the black. Must say it is growing on me a little bit as it contrast well with the silver.
11. Take it into a body shop, there are a few dents/scratches that needs sorting out and the front bumper is a bit loose. Anyone know a good bodyshop near Reading?

I think that's enough for a introduction. I am sure I can find help here if I get stuck.

[craigl]

Welcome Nicholas, All the help you will ever need if you get stuck is on here, You will be fine.

[NAV_777]

Welcome man plenty of information here and helping people

[bails]

Welcome mate

[Detail D]

Nice looking Octy. I had 3 of them, one standard VRS petrol (3rd one to enter the country when they came out) a heavily modded one with 330bhp and a genuine stage 2 works Kevlar rear fast road tarmac section rear wing (Ex Skoda rally team unused spare spoiler) and many many other mods and a VRS diesel. Lovely cars with plenty of practicality Hope you enjoy the ATR, its a very different type of car but I'm sure you will learn to love it

[Shuthan]

Welcome mate, good choice on the colour

I am sure you will love the ATR like we all do.

[Craig_85]

With your oil leak on the back of the head also check rocker cover gasket.

Nice list of work to do, the other practically service item is cleaning the egr plate and manifold holes.

Performance wise yes they are annoyingly flat low down, I know people will argue this but it is a fact compared to the power delivery of modern cars. However the handling and lsd is so good even without using Vtec I have never been caught up with or kept up with along a country road when there is nothing in front of me and I am not deliberately driving slowly, it is very rare you have to brake, the turn in is excellent, although when really going for it I find it helps put the weight over the front and let's you use the lsd. You can Vtec round corners and you can exploit a lot of the cars capabilities on the road where you have visibility to do so because the handling is that good. In my opinion, like a dc2 the harder you drive these cars the better they get. When you learn how to drive it your vrs would not see which way an atr went.

[toyracer69]

Hello and welcome to the forum.

[nicholas_yiu]

Thanks for all the welcome messages.

I will be doing the EGR plate and the rocker cover gasket when i respray it base on the recommendation.

When you say manifold holes, do you mean taking the exhaust/intake manifold and giving the head a clean? Intake is probably straight forward but I dread to even think about taking that exhaust manifold off, it will be well stuck!

I am a bit annoyed at the moment because I don't realy want to drive it before giving it a full service, but I couldn't do anything this weekend because it doesn't have a starter motor at the moment. That means I can't drive it till at least after next weekend. I need patience.

[Craig_85]

nicholas_yiu, on 07 June 2015 - 05:53 PM, said:

Thanks for all the welcome messages.

I will be doing the EGR plate and the rocker cover gasket when i respray it base on the recommendation.

When you say manifold holes, do you mean taking the exhaust/intake manifold and giving the head a clean? Intake is probably straight forward but I dread to even think about taking that exhaust manifold off, it will be well stuck!

I am a bit annoyed at the moment because I don't realy want to drive it before giving it a full service, but I couldn't do anything this weekend because it doesn't have a starter motor at the moment. That means I can't drive it till at least after next weekend. I need patience.

No, underneath the egr plate there are some holes that pass that filthy air back into your intake manifold, straw taped onto a vacuum attachment whilst poking the soot out.

And you can drive a car without a starter motor, bump start her!

This post has been edited by Craig_85: 07 June 2015 - 07:14 PM

[-SUL-]

Welcome along

The droning you're experiencing could be down to the worn tyres and not the decat pipe so would suggest changing them first. I'm currently running on RE002's and find them excellent but would also consider RE070 tyres as they seem to have a stiffer sidewall.

HT Leads would be worth changing if they've never been done - ADL Blueprint or for an upgrade - Magnecor KV85's.

Again the PS fluid is worth changing if it's the old fluid running through the system. There is a guide on here which covers how to flush the system.

If you're considering Honda MTF for the gearbox, I'd recommend Amsoil MTF instead which is far superior in quality and spec. It's no longer available anywhere in the UK but can be bought here at a slightly higher price -

http://www.ebay.co.u...=item2c97f64819

Good luck

[nicholas_yiu]

I am not desperate enough to bump start it. Going from what the refurb place said, the starter motor should be ready for collection tomorrow after work.

I will have a look at getting the soot out of the EGR hole, seems pretty straight forward as well.

For tyres, I can't seem to find RE070 in the right size? I want to make this right as they will last a few years base on the mileage that I will do.

The blueprint HT lead seems too cheap, would they be equivalent to OEM quality? The Magnecor seems quite reasonable in comparison so I will probably go for them. I will also add the PAS fluid on my list.

For MTF, I bought the Redline MTL stuff from Opie instead, hopefully as good as it's more expensive than the Amsoil stuff!

[shekster]

hello and welcome
see that you got a growing list of things to do

[toyracer69]

RE070's are only available in 225/45/17 not 215...

[nicholas_yiu]

Probably stick with the RE002 then as 225 it's going to affect with the speedo a little and probably make it slightly less nimble.

Starter motor back from refurb place. As good as new I would say except for one small problem that the really really sharp eyes might be able to spot:



I want the car to move so decided to modify it slightly, fitted and good as new!

[toyracer69]

I'm running RE002's in 225/45/17 all round and its pretty nimble....

[KMB]

Hello and welcome new chap - Good to see you're doing things properly, nice little project

[bails]

nicholas_yiu, on 08 June 2015 - 08:22 PM, said:

Starter motor back from refurb place. As good as new I would say except for one small problem that the really really sharp eyes might be able to spot:

Signal cable connector is an eyelet stud rather than a push fitting

This post has been edited by bails: 09 June 2015 - 07:41 AM

[nicholas_yiu]

bails, on 09 June 2015 - 07:41 AM, said:

nicholas_yiu, on 08 June 2015 - 08:22 PM, said:

Starter motor back from refurb place. As good as new I would say except for one small problem that the really really sharp eyes might be able to spot:

Signal cable connector is an eyelet stud rather than a push fitting />/>/>

No, they fitted the battery terminal cap the wrong way round. I should be able to just rotate it but ended up breaking it off when I tried. Still works though and most importantly, the boot still has a snug fit.

Done the engine oil and transmission oil now. Next job is the camend / rocker gasket to fix that oil leak and cleaning the EGR plate. Also want to get the rear ARB bushes done before it goes in for undersealing/alloy refurb/scratches dents sorted out at the end of the month.

Anyway, gave it a quick wash today and took some more pictures:







That front grill needs respraying or returning to Silver and I still haven't got round to polishing the driver side headlight, you can clearly see that there.






And finally, both cars on my drive are from the same factory />/>

[-SUL-]

Looking good I'd suggest changing your front indicator bulbs to chrome to maintain the clean look

ADL Blueprint are amongst the best quality OEM parts supplier so I wouldn't hesitate to use their parts on your Atr.

A lot of people run 225/45/17 size tyres on their Atr due to the cheaper price and larger availability so I'd definitely consider it